You play as a treasure hunter named Panama Joe, whose goal is to find an ancient treasure hidden by Aztec warrior deep inside catacombs. But beware, the catacombs are a large maze inhabited by monsters. Bouncing and rolling skulls, dancing spiders, disappearing and re-appearing chains and tons of fire await you. You'll have to find many keys and unlock doors in order to reach your goal. Panama Joe can jump and climb ladders, but doesn't have much to offer in terms of combat. That's why the monsters in the game should be avoided: a collision with an enemy leads to a premature death.

You as Panama Joe, a self proclaimed daredevil, have seen better times. You take it upon yourself to enter the chambers of Montezuma seeking treasure, and he is seeking revenge before you even get anything! Will you eventually make it to the legendary Treasure Chamber? Time will tell, and your ability to stay away from Montezuma's baddies.

Montezuma's Revenge can be played using the keyboard, or a joystick. A key configuration option is available. What i really enjoyed about this was a jump left, jump right, and jump up ability. With careful precision you'll be thankful to know exactly how far you can jump without having to get a running start.

Almost like a puzzle game, you have to look at a level and figure out what to do. Ropes, dropping floors, fire pits, conveyor belts and even lasers will try to stop you from getting where you plan to go, so watch out!

What sets this game apart from other classic platformers is that there are tools that can be used throughout the game (Panama Joe can only carry 5 at a time sorry). Torches light up the screen, keys open doors, amulets to make you invincible, and even a sword to stab at things lay awaiting someone to take them. Its a good thing Montezuma doesn't clean up after himself.

The graphics are limited in colors, but its not so bad. At least they have the correct colors to fit the theme for the most part. I would expect to see lots of reds and oranges when messing with Montezuma's crib.

I was disappointed in the animation of the game (very limited) little things like animated fire would have made the game a bit more exciting. However, rolling skulls made up for it.

Music and Sound Effects

There is no music (that's probably a good thing), and the sound consists of limited beeps and bloops when grabbing items and that sort of thing.

Aside from objects like chains and dropping floors, the only characters that mess with you are spiders, skulls (rolling that is), and snakes .. all hoping you step on them.

Overall this game is pretty fun to play. If you can deal with the lack of good graphics (spiderwebs end up looking like random gunk in this PC port).

PANAMA JOE. That's what they call him 'round these parts; though no one knows his real name or where he comes from. But one thing's for sure, PANAMA JOE's a daredevil from the word "go!" No risk's too great if the reward's large enough. Winning. That's what's most important to him. And more times than not, that's exactly what he does. Because he's tough, clever and resourceful. And sometimes, downright pig-headed! Though occasionally (ah-hum), he's been known to get in over his head. Luckily, he's got a knack for getting himself out of hot water as quickly as he gets into it! Let's hope Montezuma's Revenge is one of those times...

Sappy manual (the passage quoted above) notwithstanding, Parker Brother's Montezuma's Revenge is one of those early platform games that invent the whole new genre-- in this case: treasure-hunting-puzzle-solving platform games. As Panama Joe, you move from room to room gathering keys to open doors, avoiding various enemies and traps, gathering treasures to score points, and gathering equipment to help you along your way, such as torches to light dark rooms and swords to eliminate enemies without losing a life.

What makes Montezuma's Revenge so addictive is hard to describe-- it's the combination of action, puzzle, devious level design, and innumerable additional touches. Black rooms, great sound effects, a large maze, disappearing platforms - it's a mother of a platform game, and a great one at that! Even though Panama Joe (you) looks like a melon with legs. Suffice to say that if you like clever action games, and have never played Montezuma's Revenge, you're missing out on a great lineage of games.